Questions about wing sizing (how much lift for specific environment,gear, etc.)?

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Mark IV

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I checked that wing-lift-calculator thread, but I guess the link is old, because it sent me off into deep space.
Anyway, I'm wondering how much wing (in pounds of lift) I'd need for diving in fresh water (cenotes), in a 7mil suit, and toting 3 big steel tanks (like hp120's) ?
I used to dive the caves in a heavy 2-piece 7mil, with 1 back-mounted hp120, and 2 of them side-mounted. My BC was a wings/harness/backplate from Dive Rite, but i can't recall any specifics about it. It's possible (if not probable) I had a doubles wing, but since I never much liked wearing doubles on my back, (plus, we had access to cheap rentals of individual steel 120's), I soon got comfortable with 1 on my back and 2 on the side, and it worked for me.
I've been told that I should be looking at something with 45 lbs of lift, but I'm not seeing any single-size wings with anywhere near that much lift. They tend to run around 30, give or take (which is what the DGX econo-package runs).
So, you get the idea. Any good guesses on whether i could dive the above parameters, with a DGX 30# wing, or would I need more ? And if so, any singles-wing suggestions that I'm not seeing? ( and that hopefully don't involve high-dollar stuff like Halcyon ! :eek: :D )
Thanks.......
 
I guess it's my own fault, I should've asked something about fin straps, or "knife vs shears", and I would've woken up this morning to 2 pages of useful responses. :(
 
DTD has 17kg lift wing. which is 37#, and it's not that expensive.
RING 17 col. RED - BLACK | DTD

Apart from the Halcyon 40# wing, there's the Apeks 40# wing, Hollis 38#, IST 40#, Scubapro has apparently a 40# and a 60# singles wing. And theres the XDeep 38#.

Those are about the ones I managed to find.
 
Sorry, post deleted.
off-topic.

.
 
In answer to your actual needs, I don't have anything experiential to add. But the Optimal Buoyancy Calculator from @rsingler breaks it all down incredibly well
Optimal Buoyancy Computer
plug in your info and it will tell you more than you ever thought there was to know to pick your lift requirements!
Respectfully,
James
 
Obviously, best to do a proper weight check.
very rough ballpark figure (I use the metric system so leave some wiggle room for converting twice):
- 120 cuft = 3398 liter free gas. 3398 /232 bar leaves a cylinder internal volume of about 15 liter.
- a 15 liter cylinder at my LDS weighs about 18 kilo, and displaces 15 liter at least, so let's call that 15 kilo of upwards force. This means that per cylinder, you are about 3 kg negative. Add a kilo or so for your regs makes it about 4 kg. 3 cylinders x 4 kg = 12 kg = 24 pound negative. Add a bit for comfort at the surface, and a 30 pound wing seems to be able to float your stuff as a minimum. Add other negative stuff (lights, reels, whatever), and you need more lift

Edit: i did not factor in the gas itself. this will add more weight at the beginning of the dive
 
One of the forum's tech-diving gurus was kind of enough to PM me the specific info I was after, (I would definitely be needing 40+ lbs), so I'm good here.
Thanks to all for taking a swing..... :)
 
That hybrid back/sidemount approach is a little unusual...and that's a lot of gas to carry at once for open water cenote diving...

What you need is the Nomad XT. It will handle sidemount and backmount--usually people don't do both at the same time but it should work--and it has 50# of lift, and is available in dual bladder, which you want if you are diving with 3 steel tanks in a wetsuit.

Makes me miss my original nomad, cobbled together from spare parts, that thing had 60# of lift and it was ugly as sin, but it dove great and would handle anything. I hope whoever stole it from me is enjoying it.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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